International Tax News Blog

The European Commission (EC) presented a 'Tax Transparency' package on March 18, 2015. The central feature is a transparency requirement for tax rulings. This means that tax authorities would be obliged to share a pre-defined set of information on all of their advance cross-border tax rulings with all other Member States. Recipient Member States would then be allowed to request more detailed information on a particular tax ruling if they believe that it is relevant to their own taxation rules.

With the Tax Transparency package the EC aims to re-establish the link between taxation and real economic activity and tackle corporate tax avoidance. For the PwC Insight, go here.

Revising transfer pricing guidelines to favor use of value-based profit splits under the international action plan on base erosion and profit shifting would be “a dangerous road” to take, given current lack of agreement among global tax officials, a U.S. Treasury Department official said in Paris.For the story, go here. (subscription required)

A major consequence of the international project to combat base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) will be heightened levels of transparency into the tax affairs of multinational companies, a Treasury official said.The biggest change arising from the BEPS project over the next few years will be “much greater transparency for companies among tax jurisdictions,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary for International Tax Policy Robert Stack said March 24.For the story, go here. (Subscription required)

After the conclusion of the OECD's base erosion and profit-shifting project in 2015, the next goal for the United States will be to improve international tax administration through expanding mandatory arbitration and best practices, Robert Stack, Treasury deputy assistant secretary (international tax affairs), said March 24. For the story, go here. (subscription required)

Changing to a “territorial” tax system in the United States won’t ultimately stem the exodus of U.S.-based multinationals to lower-tax countries and could come at a significant cost in terms of good corporate governance, a new study contends. For the story, go here.

House Ways and Means Committee member Charles W. Boustany Jr., R-La., said March 25 that he plans to introduce an international tax reform bill later this spring that would use the 2014 tax reform plan by former Ways and Means Chair Dave Camp as a starting point.

The United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters plans to issue a draft chapter on intangibles for the 2016 update to the UN Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries, a UN official said.

Japan's parliament is expected to approve three tax amendments that address separate measures in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's action plan on base erosion and profit shifting, including a plan to apply Japan's consumption tax to providers of cross-border digital services

Dermot Donegan, head of VAT policy at the Irish tax authority (Revenue), speaks exclusively to ITR about the EU's place of supply rules were finalised during the Irish presidency of the EU Council, his thoughts around their implementation and the possibility of expanding the mini one-stop shop (MOSS) to cover goods and other services.